Susan P. Gavigan has been an attorney since 1990 and has handled hundreds of contested and uncontested cases, prepared and argued motions on a variety of family and criminal law issues and has represented many clients in protracted litigation. She has written appellate briefs and has argued before the California Court of Appeals. She has served as judge pro temp as needed in the Family law Court.

She has prepared and delivered many lectures regarding a variety of legal issues and has served as a panelist at various student law events. She has developed curriculum for and has taught business law. She currently teaches a variety of media law and ethics courses at the University of Southern California. She holds a BA in Journalism from San Diego State University and a Juris Doctorate from Western State University College of Law.